(a) Technical Field
The present invention relates to an external airbag apparatus, and more particularly, to an external airbag apparatus in which a sensor configured to sense impact with a pedestrian is mounted in a bumper together with an airbag module to absorb the impact force applied to the bumper, through an absorption structure provided on a deployment guide.
(b) Background Art
Generally, an external airbag is mounted inside a bumper and operates to reduce passenger injury risk by sensing a collision circumstance in advance, deploying an airbag cushion prior to the collision occurring to enlarge a space for absorbing impact energy, and decreasing impact applied to the passenger.
Furthermore, for the external airbag to operate as a buffer during a vehicle, a gas pressure in an airbag must be increased and a size of an airbag cushion must be increased to substantially absorb the impact energy to thereby decrease impact felt by the passenger.
FIG. 1 is an exemplary view illustrating an external airbag according to a related art wherein a center of a front end of a back beam 1 is dented toward a rear end thereof and an airbag module 2 is mounted on the indented portion to form the external airbag.
Moreover, recently, various technologies have been developed to protect a pedestrian during a vehicle collision using an active hood system that protects a head of a pedestrian and a pedestrian airbag apparatus. In particular, a sensor configured to sense the impact applied to a pedestrian is mounted on a front end of a back beam, wherein pedestrian protection is increased when the sensor is capable of sensing the collision impact.
However, since the airbag module and the sensor overlap and are mounted on the front end of the back beam and, it may difficult to simultaneously install the sensor and the airbag module.
The description provided above as a related art of the present invention is just for helping understanding the background of the present invention and should not be construed as being included in the related art known by those skilled in the art.